Like We Used To
by another wannabe author
Summary: Naruto tries to woo Sasuke like it's his day job - Monday to Friday. NaruSasu.
1. Monday

On Mondays, Sasuke helped at Konoha's town hall, just beside the Hokage mansion, to work in the communications department as decreed in his community service outline. He was required to show up, stamp mission reports, and file them away. At no point had he been told he needed to be happy about this, or interact with anyone, so he usually sat silent behind his desk in a Chunin flak jacket – even though he wasn't technically in the shinobi register – and contemplated the monstrous pile of crap his life had become. On a regular day, he could tend to his business without interruption, or even opening his mouth.

Other days, Naruto came around.

Sasuke didn't look up, he didn't need to, when a paint-flecked hand slapped Naruto's mission report hard on his desk. The paperweight that held nothing in place rattled. Face leaning on his hand, Sasuke tried to slide the piece of paper out from Naruto's palm, but he held it down flat until Sasuke sighed and looked balefully up at him from under his lashes.

"What."

Naruto flashed him a smile, leaning close. "Wow, place is really lively today, huh?"

Sasuke scanned the ghost town with hooded eyes.

"Sure is," he replied blandly. Naruto didn't stop staring at him, and it was starting to piss Sasuke off.

"How's your day been?" Sasuke could tell Naruto was just grasping at nothing to keep this conversation going.

"Mediocre."

"Anything cool happen?"

"Not particularly."

"…"

"…"

"So… what are you doing after work?"

Ignoring him, Sasuke pried the report out from Naruto's vice-like grip and quickly skimmed its summary. He quirked a brow. "D-rank mission?"

Naruto shrugged, examining the white paint that crusted under his fingernails. "Fence painting. What can I say, I had nothing else to do, and it's basically no work for decent money—"

"I don't care," he cut in sharply, reaching for the approval stamp and pressing it into the inkpad.

"…You look good in green," Naruto commented.

The stamp fell onto the report hard enough to dent his desk, and Sasuke waved him off with the finger, pushing off in his wheelie chair to file the paper away in one of the lined up storage cabinets. The furniture was predominantly of the expensive persuasion, the only exception being Sasuke's swivel chair made of plastic with a curve in the back that was messing up his posture. It seemed the Hokage had spared no expense providing for everyone else's comfort.

Naruto lingered momentarily, before saying a cheery goodbye and walking out the door. Sasuke didn't turn back around until the footsteps had receded and the door clicked shut, slumping in his chair and inching his way back towards the desk by way of the heels of his feet. He looked up just in time to see Naruto leaning backwards to wave through the window before pouncing up onto Konoha's rooftops.

Around half an hour later, nobody else had come through, as Mondays weren't especially busy in communications. Most ninja only received their missions on Monday and returned later in the week, apart from newbie genin squads. Sasuke didn't mind; he enjoyed his solitude, coming up with stupid games to pass the time, like counting leaves as they fell outside the window and making notches in the table for every time he heard Tsunade shout herself hoarse from the building next door. In fact, Sasuke reached out to steady the small lamp on the edge of his desk just then from the impact of the Hokage splitting a table in half, adding another notch as her voice rang through the otherwise peaceful afternoon.

There was only an hour left of his shift when Naruto came back with another report.

"Did you miss me?" he asked, leaning his chin on the edge of the desk and blinking up at Sasuke with wide, imploring eyes. His backside swayed at passers-by.

"Another D-Rank," Sasuke said, looking sorely unimpressed. "Do you really have so much time on your hands that you can go out and do something as stupid as finding a lost cat?"

"Hey," said Naruto defensively, "that kitty was vicious, and ridiculously horny, runnin' around humping all the lady cats."

"Charming."

"Seriously! Do you see these scars?"

Naruto gestured to the numerous scratches on his arms that were barely deep enough to draw blood. Sasuke didn't even bother looking up, stamping the mission report just as another shinobi walked in through the door.

Naruto still hadn't left by the time the report was filed away, and Sasuke was forced to actually look at him. "What do you want."

"Sasuke, let me take you out after you finish your shift." Sasuke was unsurprised by this proposal. Ever since he had returned to Konoha, Naruto had made his feelings very clear, and Sasuke had done the same.

"Get the hell out of my face," he deadpanned. Naruto sighed, briefly deterred. He was soon back to his jovial self, however, and walked out the door whistling. The next in line came forward and Sasuke gave him an incredulous look.

"Naruto, what the hell."

Another Naruto stood just after the first, waggling a mission report in his hand like it was something to be proud of. Sasuke heard the door open and shut several times, cursing. He didn't have time for Naruto right now, not when all the genin were just returning from their missions at the end of the day.

"Hey, Sasuke," Naruto greeted obliviously, that same grin plastered all over his dumb face. Sasuke glared at him. "Got another one for ya."

Sasuke snatched the document from his hands, speed reading essentially the same report as the last two, only this one detailed Naruto delivering some stock to a small boutique on the outer sector of the village.

"Why are you doing this," Sasuke asked, dabbing his stamp in some ink and looking up at Naruto in that way that always made his stomach flip.

"Come out with me tonight," he said.

"No."

"Why not? What else do you have planned?"

"Avoiding you at all costs," he said, turning away to file the report once again.

Three D-Ranks in one day. This was a low point in Naruto's jounin career. When he turned back around, Naruto was still there, looking at him in that ridiculously sappy way that had never made any sense to Sasuke, because the smallest and stupidest things always triggered it. Sasuke couldn't help but stare back, calculating.

"Seriously, what are you doing, Naruto?"

"Do you know how pretty your eyes are?" he asked vacantly.

"Naruto. Stop wasting my time. What's with all the low rank missions?"

Naruto smiled softly, giving him a light shrug. "I did twenty-seven of them today."

Sasuke gave Naruto a dubious look, his legs stretched stiff under the wheelie chair, arms folded. "Why in the hell would you do that?"

"They only had twenty seven," Naruto replied.

"You know what I mean, dumbass."

Naruto leaned over the desk so that their faces were only inches apart. Sasuke scowled but didn't move away. "So that I could come here and see you, of course!"

Sasuke made a disgusted sound, pushing the too-close face away with perhaps a little more force than necessary. Sasuke was surprised to see it poof into nothing, and even more surprised to see another Naruto standing behind it. Blinking, the new Naruto gave Sasuke a sheepish grin, scratching his cheek. Sasuke leant to the side, only to see an entire queue of Naruto's stretched out behind the first, all holding mission reports, all grinning like total idiots.

Sasuke resignedly accepted each report, just as he resignedly turned down each and every clone. This was one of the longer days on the job.


	2. Tuesday

On Tuesdays, Sasuke worked at the homeless shelter. Others often scorned him, as they were all willing goody-two-shoes volunteers and he was just counting the seconds before he could leave and return to his apartment where he pretended there weren't ANBU vigilantly watching every second. He was required to show up, chop some vegetables and stew them together with cheap stock donated by citizens and grocery stores, then serve each and every filthy bum their share and make sure they all got the same amount. At no point had he been told he needed to be nice to them, or actually bother to treat the vermin like human beings, or interact with any of the other volunteers. Usually, he kept to himself and did what he was told, chopping, stirring, and serving things from a dirty communal pot, all while wearing a stained white apron and a hairnet that made him look stupid.

On Tuesdays, Sasuke liked to pass the time thinking about how pathetic the homeless people were, and that they should take it upon themselves to find jobs and sort themselves out, rather than comfortably relying on the government to provide for them. On a regular day, he could tend to the soups and bread slices without interruption, or even opening his mouth.

Other days, Naruto volunteered.

"Scuze me," Naruto said breathily, leaning over Sasuke and pressing his chest into the man's rigid back to retrieve more carrots to peel.

Sasuke didn't react. Reacting made Naruto feel like he'd accomplished something, and it was best to ignore his behaviour rather than encourage it. Sasuke reached for the ready peeled carrots and chopped them with swift precision, scraping the pieces into a large bowl. Naruto slowly dragged himself across Sasuke's skin with a long grunt, then proceeded to peel the carrot as if nothing had happened. After Naruto did this for the third time, Sasuke decided to move the bag of unpeeled carrots onto his side.

"So you don't have to keep leaning over," he explained at Naruto's disappointed look, hiding a smirk. "You're welcome."

Naruto grumbled to himself for some time after that, and there was blissful silence between them. Sasuke enjoyed Naruto's company much more when he didn't open his mouth.

"Nice hairnet," Naruto said.

"You're wearing one too, loser."

"Mine looks good."

"It makes you look stupid. Well, no more stupid than usual."

"Your spikes are poking out the back," Naruto said, unaffected.

Sasuke didn't reply.

"You can't ignore me forever," Naruto prodded, staring at Sasuke from the corner of his eye.

"I can try," Sasuke said calmly, the knife smacking on the chopping board with more force. It was a threat and Naruto knew it.

That didn't stop him from leaning too close, brushing their arms and speaking in the lowest, rumbling tone his voice could muster. Naruto's voice was husky when he tried, the kind of husky that made you feel sleepy and gave you butterflies in your stomach. Sasuke jumped when the voice suddenly became much closer, and Naruto blew into his ear.

In a flash Naruto's back was slammed hard against the table, his head cracking ominously against the steel tabletop. The knife lodged itself a hairsbreadth from his throat and Sasuke towered over him, expression a shadowy promise that if he ever did that again, the knife might not miss next time. Naruto started to chuckle nervously as the other volunteers stared.

"Hey, Sasuke, let me up, yeah? I was just kidding around," he said, voice verging on desperate.

Sasuke's hand slowly released from where it had pawed in Naruto's apron, and the man quickly sat up and scrambled away from Sasuke, who looked completely neutral as he continued to chop away. Naruto knew he had just escaped death.

A few minutes passed and the carrots were all finished. Naruto grabbed the metal bowl and brushed past Sasuke so faintly it tickled, his empty hand running along Sasuke's lower back, eliciting a traitorous shiver. Sasuke glared at Naruto's triumphant grin as the man ambled towards the large cooking pot and dumped the carrots inside. This time, however, Sasuke just let it slide.

-x-

thanks for reviews my pretties


	3. Wednesday

On Wednesdays, Sasuke acted as a lifeguard at the local pool. It was summer and someone always seemed to be there, whether just sitting in the sun to tan, splashing around with friends or doing laps for exercise. He was required to show up, sit high above the others in his lifeguard chair, and jump in to save anyone who didn't come up for longer than thirty seconds.

At no point had Sasuke been told he needed to be happy about this, or interact with anyone, so he sat with his chin cradled in his hand for hours in the sun, re-applying sunscreen over and over to make sure he didn't turn into a lobster. The heat didn't bother him too much. Of all the days, Wednesday was Sasuke's favourite day. On regular Wednesdays, he could tend to his business without interruption, or even opening his mouth.

Other days, Naruto came to swim.

So far, nothing very serious had happened, save for a kid who had tried to jump from one of the higher diving boards and Sasuke got to blow his nifty little whistle and tell him off. The ladies loved the whistle. Girls barely clothed in bikinis seemed to make it their mission to fill every scrap of space around Sasuke's domain, setting up beach towels and lounge chairs, talking about him as if he couldn't hear their swoons. Sasuke always wore tinted shades, because secretly, he liked the view of their cleavage from up high, and they didn't seem to mind the attention anyway.

Sasuke couldn't help but grimace when he saw the unsightly orange board shorts round the corner, soon followed by an obnoxiously loud voice. Naruto was alone, greeting anyone within a ten-meter diameter. Sasuke was in the middle of applying another layer of sunscreen when Naruto's roaming eyes locked onto him, and quickly glazed over.

At first, Sasuke didn't realise what he was doing. The second he saw Naruto he did his best to deny the man's existence, continuing to lather generous proportions of sunscreen over his arms, legs and chest. It wasn't until he paused, one hand slick with the milky white cream on his collarbone, did his eyes wander back to Naruto. He'd come closer and was staring, mouth ajar, as Sasuke rubbed all over his body in slow motions. He blushed madly when Naruto gestured for him to keep going, deciding he'd rather burn.

Disappointed, Naruto sunk into the water from the edge of the pool, wading through the children playing water games. Sasuke's attention drifted elsewhere, keeping an eye out for anyone who looked like they needed help or were breaking the rules. Especially breaking the rules. Sasuke enjoyed flaunting power and telling people off for things. It was in his nature. Slowly, his eyes drifted to the women who cooed his name. Thank god for sunglasses.

A loud splash indicated someone had just jumped from the highest diving board. Sasuke quickly sat up straight and cursed himself for not paying attention, hoping it wasn't a kid. He watched avidly where bubbles fizzed and popped to the top, waiting to see a head resurface. Seconds ticked by and the person never emerged. Sasuke shifted, his eyes locked on the bubbles that just kept coming. He took off his sunglasses. Twenty seconds. He quickly pulled the whistle over his neck. Twenty five. A young girl started to scream and he dove from his seat, slinking into the water. It stung his eyes, cold after baking in the sun, but he didn't care, powering through towards the sinking form like he was born in the ocean. Sasuke had always been an excellent swimmer, and right now, he was very grateful for that.

There was no time to waste. Sasuke grabbed the figure by his waistband then pulled him upward, slipping an arm around his waist and erupting from the water, making sure to keep both their heads above the surface. A frantic crowd had formed at the edge of the pool, eyes glued on Sasuke as he pulled the man onto the concrete and pushed himself up beside him.

"Move back," he ordered, turning to face the unconscious figure. His heart skipped a beat when he saw who it was. "Naruto?"

Naruto lay splayed on the ground, hair matted to his forehead and unresponsive. Sasuke immediately checked his pulse, relieved to find he was still alive, but he wasn't breathing. He must have hit his head on something. Sasuke cursed, placing one hand on Naruto's forehead and two fingers under his chin, tilting his head back to open the airway. Sasuke aligned his hands on Naruto's chest and performed thirty compressions, his mind whirring with the possibility that Naruto might die. There was no way he could, Sasuke told himself over and over. Naruto wouldn't die here. Naruto wasn't the type of guy to drown. He was a renowned Jounin, war hero, future Hokage candidate, and most importantly… his best friend.

The compressions appeared to do nothing. One more check for breathing and he quickly transitioned to rescue breaths, pinching Naruto's nose and leaning down. He breathed in then paused, listening for signs of resuscitation. Heart hammering in his chest, Sasuke went to deliver more air.

Two strong arms pulled him down and their lips crashed together, teeth mashing. Sasuke flailed, gasping when a tongue plunged its way into his mouth and licked all over. It felt disgusting. Sasuke instinctually pushed back but Naruto's arms were strong. The crowd started whistling and a few others squawked in indignation before Sasuke managed to pry himself away from Naruto, wiping at his mouth and spluttering onto the ground. The blonde was supporting his weight on his elbows, grinning at Sasuke.

He saw red. Sharingan flaring to life, Sasuke pulled Naruto up by the hair, ignoring his cries of 'Ow! That hurts, bastard!', driven by an insatiable rage that had him dragging Naruto's bare back along the concrete ground, all the way to the entrance gates. He was blushing so hard it hurt, containing his anger by grinding his teeth. The crowd was laughing and cheering him on, and despite the skin being scraped off his back, Naruto stuck both his hands up in peace signs and laughed. Sasuke threw him out of the public pool grounds and onto the curb, straight on his ass, red, scratched skin burning in the heat.

Sasuke's face clouded over and the Sharingan burned intimidatingly behind a wall of black hair. Naruto had the sense to look apologetic, scratching the back of his head.

"Sorry," he said, "I just really wanted to kiss you."

"That's no excuse," Sasuke said lowly. He didn't have to raise his voice – Naruto's skin crawled. "You can't just pretend to be drowning, Naruto, and you _definitely_ can't do it just so you can stick your tongue down an unwilling party's throat. You're banned for a month."

"But—"

"_A month."_

"I did it for love!"

"One. Month."

With that, Sasuke stalked back to the lifeguards tower, rubbing a towel through his hair and ignoring all the winks and catcalls from civilians. He had never blushed so hard in his life. The girls that normally pooled around him with their boobs and tans had left in a huff, probably to beat the crap out of Naruto, leaving Sasuke with nothing to stare at. His favourite day just became the worst day of the week. If Sasuke never saw Naruto again, it would be too soon, he told himself, fingers tracing over his mouth as he continued to half-heartedly survey the area. His lips tingled.

-x-

_did someone say The Sandlot?_


	4. Thursday

On Thursdays, Sasuke worked at the library. He was required to show up, help people find books, then scan and approve their loan cards. At no point had he been told he needed to be happy about this, or interact with anyone, so he usually typed away at the computer to seem busy and glared at anyone who looked like they might want him to locate a book. The shelving system was self-explanatory, and anyone who couldn't figure out where to find a book on their own was probably too stupid to read, anyway. The library was dead silent at all times – when it wasn't, it was because Sasuke hadn't glared at the noisy party yet. On a regular day, he could tend to his business without interruption, or even opening his mouth.

Other days, Naruto borrowed books.

To be frank, Naruto's presence at the library wasn't exactly a common occurrence. Sasuke most definitely did not want to speak to him yet after the previous day's events, and was sure he wouldn't bump into him today. When he saw Naruto come in, he could feel his insides twist and he grit his teeth to the point of being shushed himself by his supervisor. Naruto walked past Sasuke's service window several times, staring so openly Sasuke could feel the itch of eyes on him. A heated glare sent Naruto on his way, and Sasuke returned to pretending to be busy so he didn't have to do his job. Soon after, just as Sasuke's ears finally managed to tune out the world around him, something pricked into his cheek.

"What the…?"

Sasuke looked down at where a paper plane had fallen into his lap. Naruto waved at him from the other side of the room. Scowling, he unfolded the plane and scribbled a very unfriendly warning before scrunching it into a ball and propelling the thing at Naruto's face.

Just then, Sasuke's supervisor, Kurenai, popped her head out of her office and gave him a disapproving look. Since she was pregnant, she had taken to doing volunteer work to help transition from the demanding life if a shinobi. He had been seeing a lot of her moody ass lately.

"Sasuke," she chastised, "no throwing things in the library. Go pick that up."

With that she disappeared back behind the frost-paned door. Sasuke lolled his head back and groaned, mustering the energy to peel himself from his comfy chair (he was getting too used to sitting in chairs all day) and skulk over to the scrunched up wad of paper, to the tune of Naruto's muffled laughter. Just as he'd thrown the ball into the nearest trash can by his desk, Naruto materialised behind him with enough stealth for him to squeal, just a little bit.

"Hey," Naruto said amiably, his eyes running down a small slip of paper. He was obviously trying to act cool or something, not even bothering to look at Sasuke, and it pissed him off so much he almost screamed. Sasuke attempted to move past him, but Naruto blocked his path. "Where are you going? I need help finding some books."

"Look on the shelves," he deadpanned, pushing Naruto out of the way to reclaim his butt divot in that glorious chair.

"I _did_ look on the shelves," Naruto whined.

"Look harder."

"I need heeeelp!" Obviously being cool didn't come naturally to Naruto and required more effort than he can spare for too long.

"Fuck off," Sasuke growled.

Kurenai seemed to have a knack for being ridiculously annoying, as at that precise moment she reappeared and looked twice as irritable as before.

"Sasuke," she chastised yet again, "don't forget that I'm the one who has to sign your hours sheet, and if I don't think you've done enough then I'm not going to sign it, am I? It's your job to help customers find their books, and frankly you sit around doing nothing too much already."

_Well yeah_, Sasuke thought grouchily as she slinked back into her office. Did Kurenai just wait around with her ear pressed to the door so she could tell him off whenever possible? Was she that pathetic?

Naruto rapped his fingers against the edge of Sasuke's desk and hummed, clearly smug. "I'm waiting."

Sasuke rolled his eyes and snatched the paper from Naruto's hands, leading the way towards the non-fiction section. It seemed Sakura had commissioned Naruto to retrieve some medical books, and evidently, they all just _happened_ to be on completely opposite sides of the library. It would take at least twenty minutes to find them all, if he was lucky. Naruto didn't seem to mind. He trailed behind Sasuke with his hands folded behind his head, humming this incessant tune that come to think of it he always seemed to be humming around Sasuke.

Once four out of five books had been gathered, all to the tune of Naruto's stupid humming that was now stuck in Sasuke's head, Sasuke made haste to the last one so Naruto could finally leave him alone. He ran a finger over the books, a movement Naruto seemed to find fascinating, eyes flickering between the author's initials and the ID on each spine. Begrudgingly, Sasuke realised this last book was just a bit too high for him to reach without a ladder.

"Wait here," he told Naruto, shoving past him to get the small stepladder from under his desk.

"Will do," said Naruto. He was just as cheery as ever. Why did he waste his time like this? The majority of their time together was spent in silence, apart from when Naruto asked questions or Sasuke insulted him. Sasuke muttered dark things all the way to his desk, hoisting the stepladder under his arm and muttering dark things all the way back.

When he returned, Naruto was leaning against one of the shelves and blowing spit bubbles. Sasuke announced his arrival with a disgusted noise, and Naruto straightened, wiping his mouth with his sleeve with what might have been a tinge of embarrassment. Sasuke unfolded the stepladder and placed it under the book, then climbed.

He reached the top, but it wasn't enough. He'd underestimated the height of the shelf. Sasuke stretched one arm up to the book but only skimmed the bottom, even when he stood on his toes. His shirt rode up and he could feel Naruto staring, but that could wait. Sasuke grunted, his arm straining as he futilely pawed at the book just a little bit too high.

"Do you want me to try?" Naruto offered, coming to stand directly below him, steadying the ladder that had began to teeter.

Sasuke scowled at him from the corner of his eye, his lips pressing into a thin line. "No. I can do it myself."

"If you're sure," Naruto replied, his face inches from Sasuke's exposed skin. His hipbone protruded just above his waistband and the shirt had ridden all the way up to his bellybutton. He could feel Naruto's breath faintly tickling his skin and fought valiantly to ignore the strange feeling in the pit of his stomach. "You know I am taller than you, so, I could probably reach it. Just saying."

"I can _do it,_ alright?" Sweat beaded on Sasuke's forehead. His finger just barely brushed the bottom of the book and it moved a centimeter closer. Sasuke flicked at the bottom of it until it became loose, and with one final jump upwards, his hand finally grasped onto the hardback cover.

The moment it did, the ladder shook and Sasuke's foot slipped off the edge. He felt a jolt of panic before Naruto came flying up to steady him and Sasuke's free hand quickly grasped onto the shelf. He cursed, and it took a few quiet moments for him to realise Naruto's hand was now resting on his ass.

"I gotcha," Naruto said, his hand patting him a few times. Sasuke stiffened at the contact. A few strange seconds passed where Sasuke was at a loss for what to do, his mind empty, and all he could feel was Naruto's hand cupping his butt – now the thumb was making small circles and he had the audacity to give Sasuke a squeeze – when he was jolted back to life.

"Don't touch me!" Sasuke spun around to land a kick directly on Naruto's head, his hands flying up as he screeched and fell back onto the ground.

"Ouch! The hell, this is the thanks I get for saving your life?"

Sasuke threw the book at Naruto's face and jumped down, skulking towards his desk. A few minutes and Naruto stood before him, the books stacked in the crook of his elbow, one hand nursing the steadily growing lump on his forehead.

"That was a good kick," he muttered, handing Sasuke the pile over the counter.

He snatched them away, flicked on the computer and started to scan. Naruto had the sense to be silent, the only sound between them being the beeps as Sasuke checked out all five books. When he was done, he held out his hand expectantly. Naruto fished around in his pocket to retrieve his library card, and Sasuke scanned that, too.

When he did, it buzzed. He frowned, scanning it again. Sasuke clicked on the other's log, and Naruto watched with great trepidation as his expression morphed from confused to utter rage.

"You dragged me around for half an hour," he said lowly, settling his ice-cold gaze on Naruto's nervous eyes, "to gather five books that were conveniently located at least fifty meters apart, in the silence of a library while you hummed non-stop, _groped me_, and you can't even borrow them out because you have one stupid book that is _two years_ overdue?"

Sasuke turned the computer screen around so Naruto could read the title, bolded in red. It said, '_Tales of a Gutsy Ninja'_. Naruto squinted at it for a second before slapping his hand on his forehead, then wincing because he still nursed a sizeable lump.

"Oh yeah! I forgot about that," he said sheepishly, scratching the back of his neck. "I should probably return it, huh?"

Sasuke stared at the screen for a good ten minutes, his lips pressed into a thin line. Naruto fiddled with his hands and glanced about, careful not to make any alarming movements. If he woke Sasuke from this stupor prematurely there was no telling what might happen.

"For every day a book is unreturned past the due date, you owe the library 20 ryou. Do you know what that means, Naruto?"

"Uh…" Naruto bit his lip. "…I probably should have paid better attention to math lessons at the academy?"

"You owe the library over 15,000 ryou," Sasuke told him.

"…I don't suppose you could lend me your employee discount or something?"

Sasuke glowered at him, and Naruto swore the temperature of the room dropped.

"You. _Idiot."_

Sasuke yanked him by the collar into the countertop with a resounding, meaty crunch. Naruto screeched, his hands cupping his nose that now flowed with copious amounts of blood, doubled over, then he started to roll and moan on the floor. Sasuke's breathing was heavy, and several others in the library stared at him with wide eyes. He glared at them in turn and they swiftly averted their gaze.

Kurenai's door swung open. She took one look at Naruto, who was in tears on the floor and moaning like he'd just given birth, then at Sasuke whose Sharingan swirled deep red in his eyes, and placed her hands on her hips.

"Sasuke. My office. _Now."_

Sasuke got one good kick into Naruto's ribs before he trudged inside.

-x-


	5. Friday

On Fridays, Sasuke worked the snack bar at the local park. He was required to show up, serve all the stupid kids their deep-fried crap, then cook some more over a fryer in the blistering summer heat. Once again, a hairnet was necessary, but it was hidden under the even stupider red and white striped cap that matched his uniform. At no point had he been told he needed to be happy about this, or interact with anyone – it was the cashier who dealt with customers – so he usually went about his business, cooking crap with more crap then serving it up like the piece of crap it was. On a regular day, he could tend to his business without interruption, or even opening his mouth.

But on this day, Naruto came.

Naruto hadn't actually meant to run into Sasuke this time. After having his nose broken he was feeling a little sour, and decided it was best to give Sasuke some space. Besides, it was tough being turned down four days in a row. He needed a bit of a break.

So, that morning, he hadn't stalked Sasuke to find out where he'd be working during the day; instead Naruto spent his time trying to find other ways to entertain himself. The problem was, without Sasuke, his life seemed terribly bleak. He tried playing card games but his clones always cheated, and then he'd spent over an hour simply lying in bed and staring at the ceiling, thinking about Sasuke and how much he wanted to kiss him. In order to take his mind off things, he figured he might as well get some air, and ended up at the park. Imagine his surprise when the object of his affections appeared like an angel, covered in sweat and grease at the snack bar.

Naruto had meant to give Sasuke some space, but he knew fate when he saw it.

As Sasuke lowered the next batch of fried goodness into its spluttering oil, he found himself face-to-face with none other than Naruto, who had somehow found leverage enough to be looking in from a small window. Not only did his nose look horrible, the purplish bruises that plagued the flesh in the middle of his face appeared to spread wider the longer he stared at it. Sasuke took one look at his shit-eating grin and slammed the window shut.

"OW!" he screamed, hands flying to his freshly wounded nose. The shadow clone below him shuddered at the sudden imbalance of weight and poofed away, and the real Naruto fell into the stacked crates below. The wood cracked in each one and he fell straight through to the grass underneath, his knees next to his ears and legs flailing in the air.

His second attempt to greet Sasuke went much smoother. He stood in line with the rest of the townsfolk, mostly children. The kid in front of him kept looking back at Naruto and flipping him the bird (he was sure he hadn't done a thing to deserve it, either) and the kid behind was jumping on the back of his shoes and laughing. Naruto by no means hated children, but at the moment, he wished Sasuke would appreciate the things he went through just to garner his attention.

Naruto stood in line for a total of fifteen minutes, but even though Sasuke had noticed from the beginning, he went out of his way to avoid Naruto's gaze and pretended he couldn't see him waving and jumping up and down like a man possessed.

Sasuke served up some fries and a hotdog to the next kid in line, painfully aware that Naruto was just about to order. He had a bad feeling. It couldn't just be as simple as ordering when it came to Naruto. Sasuke suspected he had something planned out, like maybe he was going to send in a clone to pretend to rob the place so he could beat it up and seem like a hero and maybe Sasuke would go out with him. He didn't know exactly what, he just knew Naruto had sat in the dark and planned how this was going to go. The only thing Sasuke could do now was wait it out and stick to his resolve.

The man he worked with let out a loud yelp. Sasuke turned to see his entire front covered in mustard, in one hand a plain hotdog and in the other a condiment bottle where the loose lid had exploded onto him. A pair of young kids were snickering at him and Sasuke had no doubt this was their doing.

The man – Sasuke hadn't cared to learn his name – looked at him like he was sure Sasuke might lash out any moment.

"Handle the customers while I go wash up," he ordered. The man had a lot of guts talking to Sasuke like that. "Don't get into any trouble, or I'll know. Got it, Uchiha?"

Sasuke rolled his eyes and pushed past him, surveying the cash register like it had grown six legs. He wasn't sure exactly how it worked, but Sasuke could never admit to such a thing. Working a cash register was very simple, he assumed, and considering the fact he'd been working here every Friday for three months he probably should know a thing or two about it by now.

Sasuke's expression remained neutral as Naruto stepped up to the counter, that same ridiculously wide grin threatening to combust his cheeks. Naruto couldn't believe his luck. Fate was obviously trying to get a point across today.

"Hello, Sasu_keh_. Nice hat." This was how Naruto liked to flirt.

"Your nose is purple and deformed." He liked to think Sasuke was flirting back.

"Yeah well your face is deformed!"

"What do you want already."

"A date would be nice," he said casually.

"You do realise your persistence is anything but flattering."

"Would you like me to flatter you, Sasuke?"

"No."

"You have beautiful eyes," he said.

"Thanks, I stole them from my brother's corpse," said Sasuke. Naruto made a face. "Just order something or get lost."

"Hmm…" Naruto huffed and stroked his chin, examining the menu above Sasuke's head.

"You've been standing in line for almost twenty minutes and you haven't even thought about what you're going to order?"

"Well I was a bit distracted." Naruto gave Sasuke that ridiculously sappy look again, and strangely, Sasuke found that he had to turn away.

"Whatever," he said, voice softer than he'd intended. "Are you going to buy something?"

Naruto rubbed his hands together, looking over the menu again. "Yep, I'm thinking I'll have large waffle fries, two corndogs except I want one of them in a bun—"

"You mean a hotdog?" Sasuke deadpanned.

"—twelve potato gems and onion rings, three hash browns—"

"Hash browns are only available before 11am."

"—some of those fish ringlets—"

"We don't sell calamari here."

"—a double cheeseburger minus pickles, and a large chocolate thick shake."

Sasuke sighed, adding up the cost on his notepad. "That's 175 ryou, and most likely a heart attack in the near future."

Naruto fished for his wallet, lifting out one of his pockets, then another, then the two back ones. He looked up at Sasuke with a hand full of lint and a sheepish grin, his cheeks reddening.

"Uh, well this trip was kind of impulsive you see, so I didn't actually bring my wallet with me…"

Naruto chuckled, ignoring the groans from people behind him. Sasuke closed his eyes and they didn't open for a while. Naruto felt his stomach rumble and thought it would be best for him to just leave, get his wallet from home, and go to Ichiraku instead of embarrassing himself in front of Sasuke like this any longer. Looks like it hadn't been fate after all.

Just as he was going to run off, the caching of the cash register caught him by surprise, and he looked up to see Sasuke putting some money in for him.

Blinking, Naruto said, "Hey, you don't have to do that—"

"It's fine."

Sasuke didn't meet his gaze, tearing the order off and getting to work. Naruto couldn't help the warm and fuzzy feelings and ransacked his stomach. He didn't say another word, just watched as Sasuke lowered all the food into its greasetrap and prepared it with the same grace he did everything else. Naruto hummed his happy tune.

"Stop humming."

Naruto stopped humming, instead rattling his fingers on his pants and bobbing his head back and forth, still staring at every movement Sasuke made. Sasuke handed him the burger and hotdog, their hands touching for the briefest of moments, before turning back. Naruto stared at the spot on his hand where Sasuke's fingers had brushed and wished he could feel that tingly feeling all over him.

The onion rings came next, then the potato gems and fries, and finally, the corndog and shake. Sasuke wiped the film of grease that made his hands slick on his apron before handing it to Naruto. When their fingers brushed for the fourth time, Naruto held on a little longer, and their eyes met. Naruto was surprised to see Sasuke wasn't scowling at him like he usually was. His grin grew wider.

"So, are you busy la—"

"No."

Naruto blinked. "Hey, don't cut me off! And wait, does that mean you're _not_ busy later, or—"

"It means no." He paused, head shaking faintly. "I just can't stop staring at your nose, it's hideous."

Naruto frowned, ducking his head self-consciously. "It's your fault."

"Hey," said the real cashier as he emerged from the back door, his apron slightly damp and uncomfortable-looking as it clung to his protruding stomach, "move the line along, Uchiha."

Sasuke pulled his hand away, eyes lingering for the longest three seconds of Naruto's life, because there was something in that look that had never been there before. Sasuke's lips were quirked in the smallest smile. It was enough to set the tingliness all over his skin; it felt just as good as he imagined it would. Naruto bundled the food in his arms and skipped away, leaving Sasuke standing there with a doggy bag in his outstretched hand, bewildered because he'd expected this encounter to be much worse.

Naruto set everything down on one of the park benches and squealed to himself in delight. Not wanting to waste Sasuke's money, he ate every last morsel without hindrance. He was wondering why people kept staring at him before he realised he had been kicking his legs under his seat, humming and chewing with his mouth open for the past ten minutes. He tried to tone down the happiness a bit, but he couldn't help it, because Naruto was in love and everybody knows love is the one thing you can't help or cure. Despite being turned down again today, Naruto felt like the past week hadn't been a waste after all. He'd finally made a bit of progress.

When Sasuke got off work three hours later, his fingers were red from slaving over the fryer all day. He felt dirty and slick with grease, and wanted nothing more than to go back to his apartment and jump in the bath for an hour or two, maybe read a book. Sasuke didn't work on weekends unless he was called off for an emergency mission, since he wasn't an official member of the shinobi roster. He blew on his fingers then tucked them under his arms, heading down the dimly lit pathway, feet crunching in gravel. Earlier that day, he'd decided not to bring a jacket, assuming the summer heat would render it unnecessary. He'd neglected to take the chill of the evening into account. Sasuke rubbed his hands together a few more times and sucked it up. It was quiet, especially in contrast to the screams of children that plagued the park during the day. He liked it when it was quiet.

Unfortunately for Sasuke, it was never quiet for long.

"SASUKEH!"

Something throttled him from behind, two strong arms wrapping around his throat in a tight embrace. Sasuke made a surprised phlegmy noise that sounded something like '_ackackeh' _and flung the person over his shoulder and into the ground, palming a kunai from seemingly nowhere and holding it to Naruto's throat.

Eyes wide and sharingan flaring, Naruto looked up at Sasuke, unperturbed. "Calm down, it's just me!"

"Oh my _fucking_ god, I have killed men who have come at me from behind like that before so don't think I won't kill you!"

"Sorry, sorry." Naruto's hand wrestled to loosen Sasuke's hold, who stood to his feet and shoved the kunai back into god-knows-where, and scurried up from the ground to match Sasuke's quickening pace. "Hey, where you going?"

"Home," he replied crisply. "Customarily, one goes home when the day comes to a close."

Naruto laughed. "Who says today is over? It's Friday night, there are heaps of places we could go, like a nightclub, or a bar, or... okay well judging by the look you're giving me, I can guess you're not a party kinda guy which I suppose is to be expected of someone like you, but there are still lots of things we can do together."

Sasuke stopped walking. Naruto turned to look at him, staring thoughtfully at the ground, his eyebrows laced in thought.

After what felt like forever, (Naruto didn't want to say anything because of the tense look on his face), "…I don't like you," Sasuke said.

Even though deep down Naruto knew at some point Sasuke would have to say something like this to him, he could feel the wind knocked from his lungs and every inch of him somehow felt heavy, like he'd just woken up from a whole day of intensive training. He felt sore. It wasn't just physically, but, inside.

"Not like that, I mean," Sasuke continued, but he didn't really have to say it. Naruto knew what he meant.

Naruto hadn't felt like crying in a long time. Not since Jiraiya died, in fact. It seemed silly to cry over something like this, but here he was, biting his lip and blinking away the stinging in his eyes.

"I know," he managed thickly. Neither of them looked at each other, neither of them moved.

He could see, from the corner of his eye, that Sasuke's hand balled into a fist. He brought the hands together and dug a fingernail into his palms. Naruto wasn't sure what to make of it. He'd never seen Sasuke act this way, like he was nervous.

"It's just…!" He turned wildly to face Naruto, the strangest mixture of emotions he couldn't read swirling in his eyes. "You're – Naruto!"

He blinked. "I – I know?"

Sasuke shook his head. There was vulnerability in his eyes, but he held himself like he always did.

"You're really! …Nice… and… and I'm not, though. That's not even it, it's more… my clan… they're very traditional… I just think about, if they were watching, they'd be… also you can't have kids… not you specifically, like… men can't, together… and I need to – have kids I mean." He paused. "It's more… complicated. Than not liking you. If it wasn't for everything else, I'd… how can I not? You're difficult to ignore, difficult to… I mean you were always talking about our bond, and I know I acted like… but I could. It was more than that. Does that… make sense?"

"Uhh…" Naruto could see Sasuke was very distressed, but for the life of him didn't understand why. "Could you maybe just repeat some of that?"

Sasuke deflated, looking away. "N… never mind…"

Hands in pockets, Sasuke started to walk away again. He looked normal as well. Just as suddenly as he'd been spluttering with his eyes so full of emotion, he was back to his regular self, scowling with an air of superiority that had somehow always been part of Naruto's attraction to him.

"Hey, wait," Naruto called softly. Sasuke didn't stop walking. "Hey bastard wait!" He didn't. "God, sometimes, Sasuke you dumb prick…"

Naruto ran up behind him, tugging on Sasuke's sleeve. Sasuke didn't look at him, but he did stop, so that was something. Instead, he focused an intense glare on one of the street lamps, his arms folded.

"What," he said.

Moody as usual, Naruto thought. "Hey, look, it's okay… that you don't like me."

Naruto grimaced, and Sasuke did notice. His eyes flickered away from the street lamp, glaring much less intently.

"I mean, I get it, you can't help who you like." Naruto swallowed, briefly closing his eyes. When he opened them again, they were steely with determination. "But the same goes for me. I can't help that I like you, and the thing is, you're also my best friend, so I want to spend time with you. What I'm saying is, for now I'd be willing to just, you know, hang out. As friends."

Sasuke looked a bit taken aback, his arms unfolding and landing in his pockets. "You mean like we used to?"

"Eh, for now," Naruto said, eyes gleaming with the hints of a mischievous smile. Sasuke shook his head and turned away – he didn't want Naruto to see that he was smiling, too. "Deal? Like we used to?"

Naruto held out his hand. Sasuke let his smile fall before shaking it in turn. "Like we used to," he agreed.

"Yay!" Naruto cheered, wrapping his arms around Sasuke's shoulders. He groaned and pushed Naruto off, muttering something about personal space. The two continued walking in the darkness of the empty park, only now they walked much slower.

"And… maybe later, we can hang out like Madara and Hashirama used to, if you catch my drift—"

Sasuke kicked him in the stomach and walked away.

The End.

-x-

_I was hesitant to upload this chapter, but only because it's the last one. This was fun. Also, I have no idea how much a ryou is in comparison to a dollar, considering people don't really deal in gold anymore (well, not where I come from), so just assume that the amounts I said are correct and be on your way. Sorry they didn't screw each other crazy at the end like I'm sure you all thought they would, or at least kiss. No I'm not. My story. Bye bye. xo_


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